(03-03-2021 07:50 PM)bucfan81 Wrote: (03-03-2021 07:47 PM)jwilson25 Wrote: I dont know about the rest of you guys, but Im still behind ETSU to win this. We have proven our talent, all we need is hunger and smarts.....Go Bucs
Yes I agree completely. We have shown all year we have the players. But now is the time to show the other parts of the game and put it all together for three games.
3 years ago, on this board, as the Bucs closed out the season by losing the last 3 regular season games, ALL AT HOME.................we were discussing the 'fact' that one (or a team) can't just turn off and on the whatever it is "it factor" needed to win tough games. But.........we rallied, won the first two games in Asheville, and then were *not at all* ready for UNC-G in the finals. The bill came due.
This season most closely resembles that one in the ways of momentum, altho certainly differs in other ways. I personally can't see this team pulling together to win 3 in a row. Do they have the talent? Of course. But the cohesiveness, chemistry, discipline, and sense of unyielding purpose as a TEAM I don't recognize. Nor will the sea of Blue & Gold that helps propel the team in Asheville be available. That said................with even more intangibles than usual floating around, who knows? My rational self wants to say "no way we can even win 2"; but stranger things have happened. [See: Patrick Good vs. WCU in last year's home finale.]
We've often said in years past stuff like "this year it's wide open", when in reality there were only about 4-5 (max) true possibilities. This year it REALLY IS wide open. I truly could see any team other than El Cid or Samford winning it all - and I actually hesitate to count them out, to be truthful. It's that crazy.
But........unfortunately........the ghost of bartow past, and it's "3 days in March" plaintive, eulogy-esque lament, will likely rule the weekend. Otherwise, the two UTC losses will be somewhat less Shakespearean - and we can't have that, can we?